Assessing Job Offers

About this activity

Employers choose new hires, and although it’s not always possible, ideally job applicants also have a choice to accept or pass on a job offer. In this activity, students go step by step through making that choice. They are tasked with choosing between two job offers, where some details of the jobs are known and some are unknown, just like in real life. This choice is one of comparing apples to pineapples – Everything about the jobs is different: The wages are different – one offers commission and the other doesn’t; the commute times and costs are different; the work hours are different; and the daily tasks are very different. In Healthcare, the choice is between selling health insurance vs. driving an ambulance. Once students have made their choice, they write a letter to a friend or relative describing their choice and reasoning.

Students may be initially stumped by an activity that requires both hard calculations and abstract projections. Remind them that this is real life. We don’t always know all the details when presented with a job offer, but have to make the choice nonetheless. They should perform the calculations, then use knowledge about their own skills and abilities to project which job seems the best fit for them.

Literacy skills practiced in this activity

Calculations

Calculate the total wages based on hourly rate and number of weekly work hours
Project the number of health care plans they think they can sell and calculate the commission, to add to base pay.
Calculate transit costs and time

Critical Thinking

Students consider their own skills and personality in regards to the stress of each (sales vs. emergency response). Does this job seem like a good fit for them? Do they think they will enjoy it? Do they think they will be successful?

Writing

Students describe their choice and reasoning in a 1-2 page letter, including as assessment of their own skills and interest, projected areas of professional growth, and how they think the job fits in with their goals, even if the goal is to make money or work at particular hours.